Banff politicians want more details on how hosting the 2014 Alberta Winter Games will affect town coffers before throwing their support behind a joint bid with Canmore.
The games are expected to cost about $1.5 million to host, and while there is a proven economic boon to communities that have hosted them, Banff council wants to know what the costs are to the municipality.
It is not yet clear if there is large cash contribution needed, or whether it’s just free use of facilities and volunteer time from various town departments to host the games.
“The idea of Canmore and Banff co-hosting the 2014 Alberta Winter Games is a great concept, but more details are needed,” said Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen.
“I think the Bow Valley would be an excellent destination for the games for lots of reasons, but the concern is we don’t have a full understanding of what the true costs to the municipality would be.”
On Monday (Feb. 28), council directed administration to hold a meeting with the bid committee to work through the logistics, financial commitments and municipality responsibilities.
As well, council suggested that the meeting include representatives from the Town of Canmore and the Bow Valley’s two tourism organizations.
A group of Bow Valley residents is trying to bring together Banff and Canmore to bid for the 2014 games, but first require a letter of intent from the two municipalities.
The three-day event would attract about 3,200 athletes, coaches and technicians in mid-February, participating in 24 different sports.
The event typically requires between 2,500 and 3,000 volunteers to pull it off.
John McIsaac, one of the residents behind the push for the games, said Banff council is not holding up the process by asking for more information.
“I think everyone wants this thing to happen, and I think Banff council’s concerns are quite valid,” he said.
“They just want to make sure they have the money picture and are not saddled with a big bill.”
The letter of intent must be signed by the end of March in order to pave the way for making the actual bid, due by the end of June.
McIsaac said the next step would be to get the administrations of both communities together.
“We’ve got 30 days to work on this and it’s just a matter of bringing the two towns together and getting them in the same room,” he said. “I think there’s enough energy to move this along.’
Canmore councillors have expressed strong support for the joint bid and Mayor Ron Casey said there is nothing more needed than a letter of intent at this point.
“The truth is, this is a huge event; it brings in literally thousands of people and there’s a huge economic spin-off to the communities,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to find anything that would be negative, but we don’t have enough facilities to do it all ourselves, or we would. We can’t do that unless Banff is on side with this.”
The Alberta winter games occur once every four years. Communities must wait six years after a failed bid before bidding again.
At this time, Grande Prairie and Wood Buffalo are considering bidding on the games.
